Very good write up.The beginners chase at Down Royal looks to be a decent race of its type with several capable looking contenders.
Favourite Four Commanders is the obvious one, in that he has already run respectably over fences, finishing second to False Economy at Limerick.
Medical Card was the winner of the most prestigious best turned out award of 2009 (several of the judges were hoping that awarding the prize to her mount might be a pathway to her heart), but in the race itself could only finish second to the incomparable Skorcher, Since then he has run well on a few occasions, but after a poor run back at Navan in the spring the tongue tie was tried on his next two runs, the most recent of which was only last week. He runs without the tie today, which is a hard one to figure but it's enough to put me off.
Eight Is My Number, on the other hand is trying a tie today for the first time after disappointing at Perth in April. If it works he should have a fine chance today.
Another horse to be feared is The Engineer, going straight from bumpers into chases, but the one I'm going to chance is Awkward Moment at 8/1, who should like the conditions, is owned by a local man and has hurdle form at least as good as anything else in the race. Another minor plus point is that False Economy, the horse which beat Four Commanders at Limerick, is a stablemate.